Connecticut Housing Partners, headquartered in Trumbull CT, and provides affordable housing throughout Fairfield County, has been awarded a $10,000 COVID Relief Resiliency Grant.
This grant will fund our Rent Bank, Rental Assistance Program. COVID-19 has created a dire emergency for many of our residents who have lost their jobs and cannot pay their rent. Many residents have been living paycheck to paycheck and have no cash reserve The Rent Bank has been a critical program, a lifeline for our struggling residents through these unprecedented times.
Renée Dobos, CEO of Connecticut Housing says, “We are thrilled to have been awarded this vital funding from the United Way of Western Connecticut. COVID-19 continues to create a dire financial crisis for many of our low-income residents who have lost their jobs and they are now unable to pay their rent. We want to do everything we can during this crisis not to evict these residents and prevent homelessness.”
The CHP Rent Bank was created to aid our residents through unexpected financial hardships. Through the Rent Bank, CHP offers temporary subsidized rent relief for low-income seniors and families in CHP properties who cannot pay their rent. Dobos continues, “Our Rent Bank Rental Assistance Program has become a “lifeline” for many of our struggling residents, with “no strings attached,” and it does not have to be paid back. We will also identify support services in the community that these residents can reach out to for job placement and educate residents about solutions to financial hardships."
CHP offers mandatory Budget Counseling to these residents during this unpredictable economic period. We interface with residents to help them budget effectively during this crisis. To qualify for the Rent Bank Rental Assistance Program, the resident would, of course, have been in good standing, and demonstrate that they have lost their job due to COVID-19.
CHP is continually reaching out to business partners and foundations to support the Rent Bank-funded so it is available to keep a roof over the heads of struggling residents. Since the start of the pandemic, CHP has assisted 75 households to remain safely housed.